Razor cleaning and maint?

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waynejitsu

Joined
Oct 1, 2002
Messages
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A few more ???'s
Say you buy an old razor, dirty, green stuff, etc. (I have not, yet), but, how do you clean it?

It is small, hard to get to areas. Is there an easy way, like spray it with something, walk off, come back and rinse well?

Something that will clean, but not harm the finish?

What is used to make one "shine", you know, be shine clean:)

What is the green you see on some old razors?

And lastly, after it is clean and shining, how do you maintain it?
 
I am cleaning a Gillette Rocket right now. The way I do it is soak it in hot water with dish soap, rinse and repeat. Then I get out the worn old soft tooth brush and get into the tight spaces to loosen any thing that is still there. I have been know to use toothpaste as well, but that can scratch the finish some what. Next I soak it over night in an anti bacterial such as barbercide, alcohol or something like that just to kill anything that may be lurking around in the nooks and corners of the razor before using it.
I will be posting up pictures of my latest finds some time tonight after cleaning. One doesn't need cleaning, it has never been used so it is just getting the disinfectant treatment.

To maintain them I just rinse them down after use and when I change the blade I rinse and wipe them dry with a soft terry towel. If they get too grubby for that, they never have, I would just do the whole full cleaning I do on a new old razor.
 
An old toothbrush is perfect. In fact, before discarding a toothbrush, I give it one last duty which is a quick scrub inside my razor; not much, but a quick pass just to get into the small spaces.

Flitz polish is great for cleaning up an old razor.

The green is copper oxide, I believe. And yes, there is brass.
 
I've used denture cleaner, hot water and scrubbing bubbles from time to time, mostly thought the denture cleaner and a toothbrush. I cleaned up a TTO for a friend and cleaned the inside of the handle (without taking it apart) by heating it in hot water, twisting it back and forth, and then soaking it in 3-in-1 oil to get the gunk out, cleaned it up nice.
 
There is no real need to take the doors off the soaking and scrubbing bubbles along with a tooth brush will get everything completely clean, unless it is really dirty and seized up. Then soaking in mineral oil should get things moving.

This is the razor I got today before cleaning
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Notice the crusty stuff on the inside, and sticking out in the first picture? This one is actually quite clean.
After Cleaning
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Just soaked in hot water with dish soap and a light scrub with the tooth brush. In the one picture of the inside, even though it is blurry, you can see the reflection of the safety bar on the inside of the doors. It helps that this razor is in very good to excellent condition. What looks like brassing on the door in the first picture wasn't it was just a brassish scum like what was on the inside. I did not polish this razor either
 
That is awsome!!!
Hot water, dish soap and tooth brush did that- AMAZING!!

What is the scrubbing bubble mentioned earlier?
What does it do that this combination does not?

Polish? How? with what produce?
Would it not remove the plating?
 
"Scrubbing Bubbles" is a popular foaming bathroom cleaner spray made by Dow Chemical and available in the cleaning products aisle at your local grocery store.

The plating is the reason why I suggest starting with a non-abrasive polish such as Flitz.
 
waynejitsu said:
That is awsome!!!
Hot water, dish soap and tooth brush did that- AMAZING!!

What is the scrubbing bubble mentioned earlier?
What does it do that this combination does not?

Polish? How? with what produce?
Would it not remove the plating?
Click to expand...

You have to remember that most of what is on a razor is just soap scum to start with so hot water and a mild soap will get rid of most of it. I got lucky with this one like I said it is in amazing condition. I still need to give it and the Soluna a soak in disinfectant then I may give them a try over the next couple of days. I think I may sell both of them though, both are selling for considerably more then I pay for them and they are in too good of condition to be users and would be beter appreciated by a collector.
 
I use the Scrubbing Bubbles and a toothbrush on mine, followed by boiling them in water for a few minutes to loosen up any gunk inside the handle. Barbicide for disinfection

Also keep in mind that any rust you see on your razor is not from the razor, as it is usually chromed brass. The rust is left over from a razor blade. It, too, will come off with some scrubbing.
 
I use scrubbing bubbles and an old toothbrush. I'll spray the whole razor down with the scrubbing bubbles then put it in a plastic cup or something to soak for a few minutes, then respray and scrub with the toothbrush.

I am going to try the hot water and soap next time I hit the antique shops.

Boiling is supposed to work good too, just be sure not to boil any razors that have plastic parts. (Schick Kronas, Black Tip SuperSpeeds, etc)
 
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